A Spring of Joy

It has been here a week, and I chant our summer mantra…

The only option as I see it, is this delicate weaving of action and celebration, of intention and expectation. Let’s act, read, protest, protect, picket, learn, advocate for, fight against, but let’s be careful that in the midst of all that accomplishing and organizing, we don’t bulldoze over a world that’s teeming with beauty and hope and redemption all around us and in the meantime. Before the wars are over, before the cures are found, before the wrongs are righted, Today, humble Today, presents itself to us with all the ceremony and bling of a glittering diamond ring. “Wear me, ” it says, “Wear me out. Love me, dive into me, discover me,” it pleads with us.
(~from Shauna Niequist’s “Cold Tangerines”)

Late nights and sleeping in have started, sleepovers with friends are beginning, baseball games have ended, floors are staining brown from dirty bare feet dancing across them, piles of Legos cover the boys’ bedroomfloor, knees have been skinned, bugs have bitten, farmer’s tans have begun, the library books are being read, the pool has been dived into, Ash-man has even started his Summer Greek class… and it’s only been a week!

We are working hard to live and not be lazy yet to enjoy life and not work too much.

We are figuring out how to spend our days with necessary structure but not so much that we are stifled.

We are learning what love looks like in the every day moments together.

We are laughing and crying and hugging and fighting and forgiving and teaching and praying and reading and writing and baking and celebrating and living.

Each day beckons to dive in, discover, love and live!

School ended May 30, and by 5:00 that night we were camped out in Gimli ready for a weekend in Williamsburg. The kids rode bikes and swam in the pool. I loved working on meals together with Bri then cleaning up together listening to the kids playing in the distance. Each night we’d curl up inside and I’d read Redwall aloud to them, and they’d chant a chorus of “one more chapter” at each chapter’s end. We spent days pretending to be spies in Colonial Williamsburg and ate in taverns and picnicked on the lawn in front of the Governor’s Palace. We shared root beer floats, and Bella dressed in her best Colonial attire (borrowed from a friend–thanks Madeleine!).

We filled a bag this year with their “Summer Basket” surprise… it included a dog leash, a water bowl, and a couple dog toys.

Yes, our summer includes a puppy! And when they met their new little guy, their faces couldn’t have been more wonderful. (We bring him home next weekend!)

So here we are.

Our already full hearts are expanding to fill up with more of each other… more of us as we wear each day out.

Our summer list is ready.

And so are we!